The present invention relates to assemblies that are used in the repair of bone and/or cartilage, and more particularly, to such assemblies as well as methods and apparatus for affixing repair material to bone and/or cartilage.
In the practice of orthopedics it is known to introduce repair material to a bone and/or cartilage requiring therapeutic tissue repair. Such repair material may include cartilage replacement material. In general, the repair materials currently employed in such circumstances include any of a collagen mix, a synthetic scaffold, a biologic scaffold, and nonwoven or woven fibers. In some cases, the repair material may include or comprise a flap of the damaged cartilage.
Currently, such repair materials are introduced to the location under repair and secured in the area via stapling to the bone tissue or via suturing. There is a need, however for a more secure method of affixing repair material to the location of the body under cartilage and/or bone repair.
The present invention fulfills the above needs, as well as others, by providing an apparatus for securing soft tissue repair material in a location in the body under repair. The apparatus includes an anchor and a material retention member that extends radially in a plurality of directions from the anchor and is adapted to exert a retaining force on the soft tissue repair material that urges or retains the material against bone tissue in the location under repair. One benefit of the present invention is that the anchor provides a mechanism by which the retention member may be anchored in place, allowing the retention member to retain the soft tissue repair material.
In a first embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for use in affixing material to a location under repair includes a material retention member and an anchor. The anchor is configured to be inserted into a cavity in bone tissue, the anchor having a first end and a second end. The anchor also includes one or more raised ribs. The material retention member extends radially from the first end of the anchor in a plurality of directions, the material retention member including at least one contact surface adapted to exert a retention force on material that is interposed between the material retention device and the bone tissue.
In a second embodiment of the present invention, a method of effecting therapeutic reparation of a location of the body includes a first step disposing soft tissue repair material in the location of the body. The method also includes the step of securing an anchor of a fixation device into a cavity in bone tissue in the vicinity of the location, the anchor having a first end and a second end and further comprising a material retention member extending radially from the anchor in a plurality of directions. The anchor is secured into the cavity such that at least one contact surface of the material retention member engages a portion of the soft tissue repair material that is interposed between the material retention device and the bone tissue.
The above-described features and advantages, as well as others, will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.